Comedian John Mulaney famously mocked the classic American diner on a “Saturday Night Live” episode where someone (finally) ordered the lobster.
The send-up was a play on how deep the menus are at these venues, where you can get pancakes, an open-faced roast beef sandwich and (technically) lobster.
New York and New Jersey are famous for these everything-on-the-menu diners. In many other parts of the country the classic American diner offers a deep breakfast menu, burgers and sandwiches at lunch, and maybe it closes by 3 p.m. instead of being open 24/7.
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However you define this classic American eatery, the format has slowly become less relevant. Fast-food chains have made breakfast cheap, easy, fast and ubiquitous. That makes diners less necessary and relevant.
Diners had been a staple of the American working class.
“The diner has been considered a model of culinary democratization in the American public consciousness since its earliest days as a horse-drawn food cart selling sandwiches and coffee,” Eater reported. “At the prototypical American diner, the story goes, workers and students and the unemployed could all rub shoulders with one another, as long as they had a few cents for a meal.”
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That’s just not as valuable a business in the age of fast-food chains fighting with Starbucks and Dunkin’ for breakfast customers. Diners still exist but they’re slowly closing and many famous ones are going away.
McDonald’s has taken some of the breakfast business that went to diners.
Image source: Shutterstock
Iconic local diner closing
Denver’s diner scene has seen slow attrition. A number of local institutions have closed in recent years, and another icon has said it plans to shut down.
Breakfast Inn’s owner, David Frieder, shared the news on his restaurant’s Instagram page.
“The BI has been a local favorite for 50 years,” he posted. “As the owner for the last 21 of those years, I’ve been in foreign countries and met people who have eaten at my restaurant. I have watched both customers and employees alike grow up, go to school, get married (many times to people they met at the BI) and start families. I have had regular guests for 10 to 15 to 20 years who were my age now that have passed on, and it felt like I lost a relative time and time again.”
That’s a very long preamble to get to the sad news.
“The BI has been there for the community and the community has ALWAYS been there for the BI. It comes with great sadness to share with the community that the BI will be closing permanently on June 8th at 2 p.m.,” he said.
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Frieder explained why he made the difficult choice.
“After a year of fighting the good fight, our lease was not renewed and the property has been sold,” he said.
Breakfast Inn says goodbye
Denver’s Breakfast Inn had a clear mission, which it shared on its website.
“Our guiding principle is to start by preparing your meal using only the best quality ingredients available. We know that when you want a great Breakfast In Denver you want fresh food and generous portions…,” it says.
“We know that making you a good old-fashioned, down home American meal begins by using only the highest quality ingredients. Almost everything we make is homemade!”
Customers and longtime fans are upset about the sad news.
“I am heartbroken. Breakfast Inn is a HUGE deal in our family. For over 30 years it was our go-to place. Amazing food and amazing people. Thank you for it all. Thank you from the bottom of my very sad heart,” shared mary626elizabeth.
Multiple people asked about the possibility of moving to another location.
“I spent a year looking for other locations but there were no options in a radius that would be a reasonable drive for our current clientele,” Frieder explained.
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Lily_elisabeth11 spoke for many of the people who responded.
“Oh, I am absolutely devastated. I’m 33 and have been going here since I was a baby – so, 33 years. And it’s been an absolute pleasure every single time. I even spent my bachelorette party breakfast here,” she wrote.
“The memories are endless – the train, the long time servers who treated you like family, the time of the smoking and non smoking sections, and just the comfort of a home cooked meal you know you’d have every single time you sat down.”